Tuesday, April 1, 2003

Two new classes offered at Wellness Center

The Wellness Center is offering a free back care clinic Monday mornings and also is offering a "overuse prevention clinic" Tuesday mornings this month.

The back care clinic is from 7:45 to 8:15 a.m. and covers the following topics:

• Basic anatomy of the disc, disc pressures, and the joints;
• Instruction proper body mechanics for lifting and carrying objects;
• Basic stretches to help reduce the chance of injury;
• Basic strengthening exercises for the lower back;
• Benefits of endurance training;
• Tour of the Wellness Center and demonstrations on the proper use of selected machines that are most beneficial for strengthening the lower back.
  

The overuse prevention clinic is from 7:45 to 8:15 a.m. and focuses on the following:

• Basic anatomy covering signs and symptoms of tendinitis, carpal tunnel and neck strain;
• Hints to help minimize injury risk;
• Basic stretches that focus on injury prevention;
• Benefits of endurance training;
• Tours of the Wellness Center and demonstrations on the proper use of selected machines most beneficial in prevention of cumulative trauma disorders.
  

Each class is between 30 and 45 minutes in length and Wellness Center staff will be available to answer questions about back care and injury risk and prevention.

For more information, contact Cindy Lawton of HSR-2 at 7-7166 or write to cindyl@lanl.gov by electronic mail. Or go to the http://int.lanl.gov/worklife/health/ online.

Updated 4/1/03

Volunteer opportunities

1.) The Volunteer Task Force is a community-based group that works with representatives from local organizations, Los Alamos County, the United States Geological Survey, the USDA Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Laboratory and other federal agencies.

VTF's purpose is to coordinate volunteer efforts for recovery after the Cerro Grande Fire and to provide public education for understanding forests and their interface with urban areas. Projects include: Environmental Education, Fire and Flood Mitigation, Trail Restoration and Building, Forest Rehabilitation and Post-Fire Environmental Monitoring.

This spring the VTF will be conducting environmental education focused on post fire recovery. A complete field day schedule for the spring 2003 season is on the Community Relations (CRO) Office Web site at http://www.lanl.gov/orgs/cr/cr_volunteerop.shtml online.

For additional information contact Craig Martin at 672-1962 or write to cmartin@losalamos.com by electronic mail.

2.) It's time for the New Mexico MESA Jamboree. The University of New Mexico will host 2,000 middle and high school students at the NM MESA statewide math, science jamboree on Saturday (April 5). They need judges, volunteers and competition monitors.

A judges' reception/orientation will take place at 6 p.m., Friday (April 4), at the Holiday Inn Mountain View (Menaul and University) in Albuquerque. A formal invitation will be mailed to all registered judges. Continental breakfast and lunch will be provided.

For more information, contact Roberto Valenzuela or Pamela Caudill at (505) 366-2500 or write to roberto@nmmesa.nmt.edu or pjc@nmmesa.nmt.edu by electronic mail.

This volunteer opportunity may qualify for community service and volunteers can request paid leave to participate. For more information about community service time for math/science related volunteering and outreach, write to sonic@lanl.gov by electronic mail.

Updated 3/31/03

Lab's Women's History Month poster at Otowi Building

The Women's Diversity Working Group's official Women's History Month poster is now on display in the second floor lobby of the Otowi Building at Technical Area 3.

"Women Pioneering the Future" poster celebrates the achievements of women at Los Alamos going back to the Laboratory's Manhattan Project roots. The large- format poster features information on selected women at the Laboratory. It is sponsored jointly by the Nuclear Materials Technology (NMT) Division and the Diversity (DVO) Office, with assistance from the Information Management (IM) Division.

The poster will be featured during the Laboratory's 60th anniversary celebration and will travel to all Lab divisions during the year.

Updated 3/31/03

YMCA bench press contest registration underway

The Los Alamos Family YMCA is now registering contestants for its 13th annual bench press contest on May 3.

Ribbons will be awarded to the first, second and third place finishers in male and female weight and age categories. Trophies also will be awarded to the top male and female lifters. The cost to enter is $10 for YMCA members, $14 for nonmembers. The first 40 people to sign up will receive a official bench press contest T-shirt.

The Los Alamos Family YMCA is a Laboratory sanctioned organization. It is located at 1450 Iris St. downtown.

For more information, contact John Marble at 662-3100.

Updated 3/28/03

Travel records

The Travel Office has just completed an audit conducted by the Inspector General (IG) and some discrepancies in the record-keeping practices for domestic travel records have surfaced. Because of these discrepancies, the process for keeping domestic travel records in the group/division offices has changed.

The Travel Office requires that copies of the following be sent to the Travel Office with the actual travel requests/approvals/receipts, etc., to avoid inconsistent record-keeping practices throughout the Laboratory.

1. Copies of justifications for any charges that are above the allowed government rates, i.e., lodging, etc.
2. Hard copy signature approvals by a manager of any travel if the manager does not approve on-line, i.e., if manager has delegated on-line approvals a hard copy signature from the manager is required.
3. Approved copies of any exceptions to the travel policy.

If these copies are not sent to the Travel Office, group/division offices are required to schedule these records under ADM 9/1.a., Commercial Freight and Passenger Transportation Files, and must cut off these records at the end of the fiscal year and retain them for six years. These records must be kept as long as the Travel Office is required to keep the official domestic travel records. When retention periods have been met, a request for approval to destroy must be sent to IM-5 on a Certificate of Records Destruction, Form 1704.

When group/division offices keep copies of domestic travel records submitted to the Travel Office, these will remain scheduled under the ADM 23/1, Office Administrative Files, and need to be cut off at the end of the fiscal year and retained for two years. When retention periods have been met, a request for approval to destroy must be sent to IM-5 on a Certificate of Records Destruction, Form 1704.

For more guidance or if you have any questions, contact Dolores Salazar at dolores@lanl.gov by electronic mail.

Updated 3/28/03

NNMC/ARMA to hold its spring seminar

The Northern New Mexico Chapter of the Association of Records Managers and Administrators (NNMC/ARMA), a Lab-sanctioned organization, is having its spring seminar from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on April 17 at the Ohkay Casino and Resort, half mile north of Española on US 84/285.

The topic for this seminar will be "Exploring, Discovery and Admissibility of Electronic Records: A Trial Lawyer's Perspective." The seminar speaker will be John J. Isaza, an independent senior consultant responsible for the Legal and Regulatory Information Services Division of Records Improvement Institute LLC, of Laguna Beach, Calif. Isaza will discuss the particular challenges that judges, lawyers and companies face in having particular types of documents discovered and then admitted in court, including e-mails, word, excel or power point documents, imaged documents and enterprise planning systems.

The cost for the seminar will be $75 for ARMA members and $125 for non-ARMA members. Refreshment and lunch will be included. No cancellations and no refunds but substitutions will be allowed.

For more information in Los Alamos, contact Dolores Salazar at 7-7076 or dolores@lanl.gov, or Sherry Guthrie at 661-6390 or sguthrie@arescorporation.com; in Española, contact Barbara Ricci at 747-4308 or bricci@imagicdzi.com; or in Santa Fe, contact Lucille Sisneros at 827-5852 or lsisnero@slo.state.nm.us or Karen Kreutzer at 827-5720 or kkreutze@slo.state.nm.us.

Updated 3/27/03

Retirement Party for Lee D’Anna on Thursday

A retirement party for Lee D’Anna of Appraisal and Performance Analysis (AA-1) will be held from 1 to 4 p.m., Thursday (April 3), at TA-3, Building 2003, Room 107. All friends and former co-workers are invited to attend. Come enjoy refreshments and help Lee kick-off her "Life After LANL." Parking is available at CMR (south), MSL (south) and the TA-59 (west) parking lots.

For more information, contact Peggy Santistevan of AA-1 at 7-6003.

Updated 3/31/03

Retirement party for Ken Bostick on April 10

There will be a retirement party for Ken Bostick of Atmospheric, Climate and Environmental Dynamics (EES-2) from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday, April 10, at TA-51, Building 25, Room 102. Come and join us in wishing him a happy retirement.

For more information, contact Helen Bustos of EES-2 at 7-3331.

Updated 3/26/03

Dell Enterprise promotion

Need storage? Time to upgrade your servers? Is that tape back-up solution too slow? Are you in need of these items but your budget is a concern? Dell and TIG are currently running several promotions around the products mentioned above including a buy four Dell Servers receive the fifth for a penny. Some restrictions do apply, but, do not hesitate to call to ask for the details.

With Dell's and TIG's service and the ease of JIT, we can custom configure a package to fit your Enterprise needs without draining your budget. Please call 800-856-8199 x8286 for details.

Updated 3/21/03

Family Strengths Network seeks volunteers

Family Strengths Network is a Los Alamos community organization focused on providing parenting education, networks and support. Volunteers are needed for committees, assisting at the Family Resource Center, serving on the Board of Directors or helping out with one time events. Call or come by, we would like to hear from you. Call 662-4515, write to familystrengths@losalamos.com by electronic mail or come by the office at 1990 Diamond Drive.

Updated 3/21/03

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) outbreak

Because of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) Outbreak, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advises that people planning elective or nonessential travel to Hong Kong and Guangdong Province, China and Hanoi, Vietnam, may wish to postpone their trips until further notice.

More information is available from the CDC Travel Advisory Web page at http://www.cdc.gov/travel/other/acute_resp_syn_multi.htm online.

Updated 3/21/03

New phone systems in Benefits and Employment Services

Benefits and Employment Services (HR-B) has a new phone system. The Integrated Intelligence Interaction Client System or "I 3" allows HR-B personnel to respond more effectively to calls. The centralized system maintained by Telecommunications (CCN-4). This system is the foundation for future enhancements to include connectivity with a case management system and Web-based capabilities. 

Lab personnel who encounter any problems when calling HR-B at 7-1806 are asked to write to benefits@lanl.gov by electronic mail and describe the nature of the problem so it can be resolved as quickly as possible.

Updated 3/20/03

Retirement party for Alan Hack is today

There will be a retirement party for Alan Hack of Operations Support (DX-4) from 3 to 5 p.m., today (April 1), in the Otowi Cafeteria side dining room.

For more information, contact Becky of DX-4 at 7-4246.

Updated 4/1/03

Retirement party for Jim Frybarger on Wednesday

There will be a retirement party for Jim Frybarger of Maintenance, Operations and Support (CCN-18) from 2 to 4 p.m., Wednesday (April 2), at the Otowi Cafeteria side rooms A and B.

For more information, contact Rick Rivera of CCN-18 at 7-5871.

Updated 3/31/03

Nominations sought for 2003 Pollution Prevention (P2) Awards

The Pollution Prevention Office is soliciting nominations for the 2003 Pollution Prevention (P2) Awards. Cash awards will be presented to recognize the P2 successes of individuals and teams that have minimized waste; conserved water, electricity or natural gas; reduced air or water pollution; procured products with recycled content; applied EMS/sustainable design elements to projects; used the LEED criteria to design their new facility; submitted Green Zia nominations; or helped in other ways to meet the Department of Energy goals for 2005 for pollution prevention and energy efficiency.

P2 awards are open to all University of California employees and subcontractor employees who work at the Laboratory.

Rules and Guidelines for P2 Award Nominations

• All nominations require the signed endorsement of a Laboratory manager (group or above).
• Individuals or teams may be nominated.
• Teams may consist of up to 20 UC and subcontractor employees.
• Laboratory managers and subcontractor employees will receive an award certificate in lieu of a cash award due to the amount of the Lab’s morale fund.

Nominations are due on April 11 and should be submitted to Barbara Bushong, RRES P2 Office, TA-46, Bldg. 326, Room 118, Mail Stop J591. All P2 award winners will be notified by April 25.

The awards will be presented to the 2003 winners at the Earth Day Awards Ceremony from 10 a.m. to noon on May 7 at the Physics Building Auditorium.

The official nomination form for the 2003 Pollution Prevention Awards is available at http://emeso.lanl.gov/eso_projects/p2_awards/p2_awards.html online.

For more information, contact Dianne Wilburn at 7-6952 or write to dwwilburn@lanl.gov by electronic mail.

Updated 3/18/03

Dog Jog 2003 is on April 26

The Los Alamos Dog Jog 2003 is on April 26 at the Chamisa School in White Rock. Coordinated as a fund raiser for the Friends of the Shelter, this 5K run or 2 mile walk is open to all ages and families (with or with out canine), and all dogs on leashes with current shots and registration.

The $15 Early Bird registration ends April 1. Family discounts are available. Registration forms are available at http://ladoc.dogbits.com/DogJog/ online or at many local Los Alamos businesses, including Otowi Veterinary Clinic, LA Fitness, Smiths in White Rock, YMCA, Pete's Pets, Animal Clinic of Los Alamos, Curves, Los Alamos National Bank, Hill Diner and many more.

For additional information, call 661-9619 or go to http://ladoc.dogbits.com/DogJog/ online. The Dog Jog is a fundraising event for the Friends of the Shelter, a Laboratory sanctioned organization.

Updated 3/12/03

Los Alamos Relay For Life is May 16-17

The Los Alamos Relay for Life is on May 16-17 at Ashley Pond. Relay for Life celebrates cancer survivors, remembers those who have lost their battle with cancer, is a way for everyone to fight back against cancer and is a celebration of life.

For more information, contact Brenda Kelley, Relay for Life Committee Member, at 7-0081.

Updated 3/6/03

Oak Ridge lab hosting 2004 conference on facility operations

Oak Ridge National Laboratory will soon be accepting papers for the seventh International Conference on Facility Operations - Safeguards Interface. The conference is Feb. 29 through March 4, 2004 in Charleston, S.C.

The conference is co-sponsored by the American Nuclear Society--Isotopes and Radiation Division, Fuel Cycle and Waste Management Division, the President's Special Committee on Nonproliferation, and Savannah River's Local Section and the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management, Central Region Chapter.

The final call for papers is Oct. 31. For more information about the conference, go to http://ntr.ornl.gov/ANS2004 online.

For more information, write to Janie McCowan of Oak Ridge National Laboratory at ivo@ornl.gov by electronic mail or call (865) 576-4003.

Updated 2/20/03

Plutonium Futures conference in July

The Plutonium Futures conference is July 6-10 at the Albuquerque Marriott Hotel. The conference addresses scientific and technical issues surrounding plutonium and other actinides and attempts to educate the public and students on these topics.

Registration costs $350 if received before June 5. After June 5, the cost is $450. For American Nuclear Society members, the cost is $300 for early registration and $400 after June 5.

A call for papers brochure is available at the conference Web site at www.lanl.gov/pu2003 online. For more information, contact Kathy DeLucas of Communication Arts and Services (IM-1) at 5-3618 or write to duke@lanl.gov by electronic mail.

Updated 1/9/03

Employees leaving Lab must attend termination presentation

Employees who are leaving the Laboratory or changing to casual status must attend a benefits termination presentation held by Benefits (HR-B).

The termination presentations are held every Laboratory pay day for University of California Lab employees. Employees who are retiring aren't required to attend a presentation, but rather, they should schedule a meeting with their designated benefits specialist.

The presentations begin at 8:30 a.m. in room P280 on the second floor of the Otowi Building at Technical Area 3. Pre-registration is required. Employees should register on line at http://hrcluster.lanl.gov/TIOCourses/TIOAha.asp?CourseNumber=21013 one to two weeks prior to their last scheduled work day to sign up for a benefits termination presentation.

Employees also must obtain a departure processing form from Staffing (HR-S) before the presentation. This form is available at http://www.hr.lanl.gov/hrstaffing/Terminations/index.stm online.

At the presentation, employees will receive a packet of information about their benefits and savings balances. They will learn about options to continue or convert insurance plans and distribution options for savings funds.

Employees who require a sign language interpreter should write to benefits@lanl.gov by e-mail three days in advance of the presentation they plan to attend. Or call the benefits office at 5-3842 (TDD).

Because of limited parking, employees should plan to arrive early and/or make alternative transportation arrangements, such as using Johnson Controls Northern New Mexico's ride service.

Updated 10/25/02

Lost: prescription glasses at either TA-3, SM-39 or fitness trail area on March 26. No-line bi-focals, silver frame in a black soft case. Please call Phil at 5-7523 if found.

Found: bifocal glasses in green case at HSR-2. Call 7-7890.

Found: Kwikset key (appears to be a house key) at edge of parking lot next to EES-11, TA-3, Bldg. 467, in the vicinity of the Physics Auditorium. There are no markings on the key. Call the S-10 Group office at 5-5237 to claim.

Found: keys on March 17 in TA-3 north-east parking lot (east of Diamond Drive); two keys on a key ring, one for a Toyota car. Claim at the Badge Office.

Found: prescription glasses in case in parking lot at Central Park Square. To claim, contact Kim at 7-7000.

Lost: gold link bracelet with about 7 links. Each link is about 1" in length and has been engraved with a name or initials (Dott, CP, etc.). Bracelet has deep sentimental value. If found, please call Pam at 7-2537 or write to ppoo@lanl.gov by electronic mail.

Found: case with drivers license and credit cards at TA-3, Bldg. 38. Please call 7-5658 to identify.

Lost: set of keys, five to seven keys including a VW key. If found, call Gail at 5-1291.

Lost: keys on Feb. 28, in or around TA-55, Bldg. 66, TA-55 parking lots, north shoulder of Pajarito Road or sidewalk on west side of Diamond Drive. If found, please contact Leslie at 5-5529.

Found: Government issued cell phone on Pajarito road. To claim, contact Vince at 5-0383.

Found: men's black bolo tie, near Physics Auditorium. Contact Diana at 5-0012.

Found: scarf in A-wing of SM-43. To claim, contact 5-1259.

Lost: mens black leather jacket left in the Moon Room (TA-3, SM-40, Room N125) on Feb. 19 after a meeting that ended at 12:30 p.m. If found, call 7-7837 or send e-mail to dxp@lanl.gov.

Lost: prescription sun glasses on Feb 12 at the Otowi Cafeteria. Medium gold tint, and a brownish frame. If found, please contact Angie Aragon at 5-7249 or write to aparagon@lanl.gov by electronic mail. 

Found: gold earring near T-Division/Engineering Building parking lot. Please call 5-1855 to claim.

Lost: Kyocera cell phone, in front of Otowi building. If found, call 7-8315 or write to sds@lanl.gov by electronic mail.

Found: computer lock at Canyon Complex. Please contact Connie at 7-3408.

Found: single silver earring with pale amethysts on the sidewalk in front of the Study Center. To claim, call Eileen at 5-8377.

Lost: Nokia cell phone in Physics Analytical Center (TA-3, SM-215) on Feb 5. If found, please contact patrick@lanl.gov by electronic mail or call 5-1203.

Found: binoculars on shoulder of West Jemez Road in front of the Wellness Center. To claim, call 5-5431.

Commuter's Corner

To run an ad, contact the Newsbulletin at newsbulletin@lanl.gov or 7-6103.

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